In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, absenteeism levels soared in schools around the country. In the 2021-2022 school year, more than a quarter of students missed so much school they were considered chronically absent.
A new analysis shows absenteeism improved slightly in the 2022-2023 school year, but remains above pre-pandemic levels. For almost every state, chronic absenteeism rates are far higher than the 2018-2019 school year, according to the analysis by the AP in collaboration with Stanford economist Thomas Dee.
A student is chronically absent when they miss 10% or more of the school year, whether excused or unexcused — typically adding up to more than three weeks of lost learning time. The reasons can vary: struggling with mental health, staying home with minor illnesses, avoiding a bully, tending to a job or family members, feeling disinterested in school or simply failing to see the point of regular attendance. Education experts see high absenteeism rates as a major red flag; they're considered a sign students are falling behind in school.
The states with the lowest chronic absenteeism rates were New Jersey (17%), Idaho (17%), Alabama (18%), Indiana (19%), and Wisconsin (20%).
The states that saw the biggest improvement from 2022 to 2023 in terms of absolute percentage point change were Michigan (-7.7 percentage points), Massachusetts (-5.5), Texas (-5.4), California (-5.1), Rhode Island (-5.1), Minnesota (-4.7) and North Carolina (-4.5). However, chronic absenteeism remains extremely high in all those states; for example, it remains above 30% in Michigan, which has the seventh-highest chronic absenteeism rate of any state.
